The primary objective of this proposal is to develop a more adequate animal model of human alcoholism utilizing rats as subjects. The proposed research will examine procedures that will decrease the delay of reinforcement and decrease the rate at which rats become satiated by ethanol. Five initial experiments are planned. All experiments will 1) use Sprague-Dawley rats as subjects, 2) alternate periods of ethanol availability with periods of ethanol non-availability, and 3) compare, across groups, the effects of several variables and their interactions on the pattern of ethanol consumption and on either the development of ethanol as a reinforcer or the development of ethanol dependence. The concentration of ethanol and the subject state of food deprivation affect the amount of ethanol consumed, the duration of ethanol availability and non-availability periods affects the delay of reinforcement, and the dosage of ethanol affects the rate of satiation. Therefore, the effects of these variables on the amount of ethanol consumed and the development of ethanol as a reinforcer will be examined in Experiments I, II, and III. The number of availability periods affects the strength of ethanol as a reinforcer; Experiment IV will assess the effects of this variable on the development of ethanol dependence. Experiment V will assess the generality of the results obtained in the first four experiments by employing female instead of male rats as subjects.